Chapter 23 - Onslaught (TCOK)
"Baran, you couldn't have come at a better time," grunted Tubba as he pushed himself back to his feet, his back facing the entrance to the base. "That's not Baran, Tubba." Mud, who was facing the entrance, informed him. Not again... Turning around, apprehension rushing through every limb in his body, to look at seven massive ships dropping anchor in the harbour. But what spooked him the most was the flag. It was a club crossed with a map. The Clubba Kingdom insignia. Have they come for me? How do they know I'm here? Did that book Glitz Pit Highscool have anything to do with it? No. It can't have. But a lucky guess? How did they know I was here? I thought of all the places I'd be safe, it'd be here, on the other side of the world. I'm a wanted man, still, and each of these ships can hold 500 people. That's 3,500, which is an eighth of the entire army. Have they brought an eighth of the entire army? Surely I'm not wanted that badly? But I'm royalty, Tubba answered himself, and I killed someone. Reason enough to hunt me down. The only burning question is HOW? Curling his lip as the fat bodies of Clubbas began to swarm the decks, easily over a thousand, maybe more than double that, he knew that he wouldn't be able to fight his way out. He would have to think his way out. And if his brother was behind this attack, it wouldn't be hard. Sure enough, the Clubbas were lining up on the largest ship in an eerie way. There, Tubba caught a glimpse of the tyrant himself, the Clubba who had taken his throne, glaringly teal among the purple, green, red, blue, and orange bodies. The Clubba King had led this attack on his brother himself. "Chubba!" Tubba spat, raising his voice so that he could be heard over the noise of Clubbas milling around. As he spoke, everyone began to quiet down, as if they were waiting for a showdown, "How dare you come to my place and launch an attack!?" "In case you haven't noticed," came Tubba's brother's cool, clear, smug reply, "we saved your life." Tubba frowned. It was true. But he was confident his brother had his own motives for doing that. "I know you only did that so you could capture me!" Tubba retorted, grabbing Karubba's club, making sure he was strong enough for the attack. "We haven't made any movement to attack you." In that moment, Tubba realized how insane he sounded. He was confident he was right, but the way Chubba was painting him in the wrong by the particular choice of vocabulary, meant that he was frothing at the mouth and spewing out words while Chubba calmly defended himself, in full view of those who would have been HIS subjects. "I know what you're doing." Tubba's voice shook as he tried to control himself, and match Chubba's cool tone. "And I won't let it happen. COME DOWN HERE AND FACE ME, YOU COWARD!" He roared, letting his careful barriers drop. I'm not going to let myself go with him. My pride won't allow it. He's no brother of mine. It's time I did what I've wanted to do for a very long time. Wipe that smug smile off his face. Knowing that he was weaker than Chubba back at Gusty Gulch, but he had trained nonstop in his days aboard the SS Mahruav, and he had gotten, not leaner, but more skillful and he was confident he could take out Chubba. "Rather, why don't you come up here?" Chubba proposed, but Tubba viciously shot down the prospect: "So you can corner me with your little friends? No thanks!" He had seen right through that, knowing that his brother would not play fair. "Fine, I'll come down there with Clubbar. I'll ask none of them to fight for me. I've waited a long time for this." Chubba continued, unfazed by Tubba's rejection of his first proposal. I've waited a long time for this too, ''thought Tubba furiously as his brother slowly made his way down the gangplank and onto the wooden port below the rocky ledge where Tubba and his allies stood. "Now, you come down here. There's more space down here." Chubba called up to Tubba, who complied. ''That's odd... I was positive he was trying to get me to confess, or, capture me by using force. Clearly he has a point to prove. ''Cracking his knuckles, Tubba made his way down the rock ledge. ''But I won't let him. Dropping down onto the wooden port, and facing his brother, tuning out all the noise, he knew that Chubba intended to play fair, or at least one on one. Not bothering to pace around each other, he lunged before Chubba could even draw breath. Instantly, he knew that he was much stronger than his brother. Blow for blow, he met him, and struck in extra blows. When Chubba swung his club toward Tubba's head, Tubba parried it and managed to claw Chubba in the belly with his left leg. Then, when Chubba attempted to punch his mouth, Tubba ducked under it and brought his club to sweep Chubba's feet from under him. Then, with his brother underneath him, he began pelting him with vicious punches and kicks, clawing white scales out from his belly, knocking teeth out of his fat mouth, and then Tubba leaped in the air, in the a move he had practiced many times over, prepared to drive the bottom half of his club through the open wound he had created. What am I trying to do? Panic raced through Tubba as sense returned and he realized he was about to use his killing move on his brother. Twisting in mid-air, he made sure he landed away from his brother, club falling helplessly to his side. As Chubba got to his feet and began savagely attacking him, he barely felt it. As he lay beside Chubba, beaten, his brother crowing his victory, one thought raced through his head. What have I become?